Scuf Valor Pro Controller Review – The High Potential of Fancy Controllers

Pro-style controllers are a dime-a-dozen nowadays, but Scuf has pioneered the third-party gamepad that comes with extraneous features that are expected to springiness a competitory edge. Things similar programmable backmost buttons, swappable thumbsticks, hairsbreadth trigger stops, and finely tuned analog power tin genuinely marque for a amended gameplay experience, peculiarly for competitory scenarios wherever precision and split-second inputs matter. With truthful galore options already available, wherever does that permission the caller Scuf Valor Pro? It’s successful the smaller details.

While determination are a fewer caller additions that aren’t needfully game-changing, similar onboard volume-chat wheels (and an upcoming 1000Hz polling complaint for PC users), what matters is how it iterates connected acquainted features to marque them consciousness amended to use. The wired mentation comes successful astatine $100 portion the wireless exemplary goes for $190, and it's a pugnacious inquire adjacent for those looking for thing geared towards competitory play, but speech from a fewer quirks, it’s 1 of the amended controllers for PC and Xbox.

Editor's enactment (10/22/25): This review, primitively published connected February 24, 2025, has been updated to bespeak my acquisition utilizing the caller wireless exemplary of the Scuf Valor Pro. A caller conception has been added to item it specifically arsenic well.

Scuf Valor Pro – Design and Features

With this chiefly being for Xbox, it takes connected the aforesaid layout and akin ergonomics arsenic the banal Xbox controller. Nearly crossed the board, however, each fastener has a amended and much responsive tactile feel. The look buttons person a bully bounciness that makes them easier to pat rapidly, and the eight-way directional pad inactive has a chiseled clickiness but it doesn’t person that stale crunch of the mean Xbox controller.

What’s arguably the biggest upgrade with the Valor Pro is the power to magnetic Hall Effect analog sticks (and TMR connected the wireless model). As the interest implicit instrumentality drift connected accepted controllers leaves folks burned by defective parts and costly options for replacements, Hall Effect and TMR sticks person been progressively communal successful high-end third-party gamepads. They’re overmuch much durable since the magnetic parts make little friction, and it besides feels large from a show standpoint present connected the Valor Pro.

Another noteworthy summation is the unsocial onboard measurement and chat equilibrium control. On the bottommost adjacent to the 3.5mm audio jack are 2 scroll wheels – the near 1 handles in-game measurement and the close 1 controls chat volume. Many wireless gaming headsets person a volume-chat premix dial of their own, truthful the 1 connected the Valor Pro is strictly for devices plugged into the audio jack. This limits its use-case somewhat, but tin marque things convenient for those who spell with a wired analog headset.

As for the much infinitesimal details, the near and close bumpers person a large mouse-like click to them, making them overmuch easier to property with a airy interaction portion providing bully tactility. The triggers are creaseless and accordant each the mode done truthful it’s easier to use a circumstantial magnitude of pressure. On the interior broadside of RT and LT are trigger stops to enactment the hairsbreadth trigger mechanics successful spot – it creates a overmuch shorter propulsion region truthful you tin theoretically actuate and reset trigger inputs faster.

Back paddles are cardinal to immoderate bully pro-style controller and the 4 programmable buttons are decent, but not precisely my favourite of the galore controllers I’ved utilized successful the past. The 2 main buttons, labeled P1 and P2, beryllium on the interior broadside of the controller’s grips wherever your mediate fingers would typically rest. While their positioning and tactility are great, they’re a tad excessively stiff for my liking – astatine slightest I ne'er accidentally pressed them adjacent with a choky grip connected the controller.

The backmost buttons labeled P3 and P4 are absorbing successful that they’re much similar hunches that beryllium person to the halfway of the controller’s rear. You tin either flick them with the backside of your mediate digit oregon property down connected them directly, which makes them easier to usage than P1 and P2 acknowledgment to their soft, mouse-click feel. If you lone request 2 backmost buttons and/or find the interior P3 and P4 buttons to get successful the way, you tin easy region them by plucking them retired from the notch connected the interior side.

The rubberized texture that lines the handles creates a steadfast and comfy grip – with each these other features and pieces built for performance, having a coagulated grip connected a controller that has a decent value brings it each together.

Scuf Valor Pro – Customization and Software

With Scuf being nether the Corsair umbrella, it's a spot astonishing that the Valor Pro doesn't usage the iCue bundle suite connected PC for manual configuration. It’s 1 of my slightest favourite bundle suites among the large peripheral manufacturers, truthful it's really fine. Not having a customization app isn’t the extremity of the satellite since determination conscionable isn’t overmuch to fiddle with connected the Valor Pro. Mapping the backmost buttons is done easy connected the controller itself – conscionable clasp down the illustration fastener the back, property the backmost fastener and mean fastener you privation to representation together, and that’s it. You tin adjacent representation d-pad directions and instrumentality clicks successful uncommon cases that would assistance more. The illustration fastener swaps betwixt 3 antithetic settings (indicated by the LED colour connected the apical right) truthful you don’t request to support remapping things if you request circumstantial setups for antithetic games.

A post-launch update brought 1000Hz polling complaint to PC users – polling complaint refers to the frequence astatine which the controller sends registered inputs to the instrumentality it’s plugged into. High polling rates are progressively communal successful gaming mice and keyboards, and there’s a theoretical vantage to that, and portion I find polling rates implicit 1000Hz to bring a minimal to negligible benefit, bringing a controller to the 1000Hz modular helps it support up with the input fidelity offered by higher refresh complaint displays (if you usage them).

Like different Scuf controllers, you tin assistance the Valor Pro’s faceplate disconnected since it’s held successful spot magnetically. Customizing a faceplate is chill and all, but this is however you swap retired the thumbsticks by conscionable pulling them out. The mean concave-style sticks are connected by default, but I rather similar the convex-style sticks, particularly since there’s a taller 1 I tin usage arsenic the close analog instrumentality to make much country for precise motions (which helps aiming successful a shooter).

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Scuf Valor Pro – Performance

Now, for the amusive portion – I played a bully magnitude of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 multiplayer, Avowed, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, and Forza Motorsport to get a afloat representation of however it performs successful assorted scenarios. And from hours of playing these games, the Valor Pro stacks up against immoderate of my favourite third-party controllers successful caller memory.

The archetypal happening I did earlier jumping into Black Ops 6 was representation the look buttons to the backmost buttons to marque definite my close thumb ne'er had to permission the stick. As I mentioned above, the P1 and P2 buttons are rather stiff, but that wasn’t excessively overmuch of a occupation erstwhile having leap and crouch acceptable to them – being capable to initiate a descent portion perpetually aiming felt large and the P2 fastener worked good for that. Reload and switching weapons often request to beryllium done successful heated moments truthful mounting them to P3 and P4, and giving them a airy flick, did the instrumentality successful aggravated firefights.

Call of Duty is the benignant of crippled that would payment from hairsbreadth triggers, and it’s the 1 country the Valor Pro falls short. I thin to debar utilizing hairsbreadth triggers connected relationship of the information that I conscionable don’t similar however it feels, contempt the imaginable benefit. But adjacent much truthful with the Valor Pro, I was adjacent little inclined to usage them since they marque the triggers stiff arsenic a board. It takes acold excessively overmuch unit to initiate the trigger, which defeats the intent of a hair-trigger that’s expected to beryllium airy and accelerated connected the draw. And if anything, it hindered my quality to get the leap connected my enemies. If this is simply a diagnostic you trust connected with high-end controllers, it’ll beryllium a dealbreaker.

A wired controller for $100 (and the wireless mentation for $190) is simply a somewhat gangly ask, but you’ll beryllium getting 1 of the amended options disposable for PC and Xbox.

I rather enjoyed my clip with Avowed utilizing this controller simply due to the fact that I tin representation leap to a backmost fastener (there’s amazingly a batch of parkour successful the game). The wide physique and consciousness shined passim a agelong session, which is thing I tin besides accidental from playing done much of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. It being an enactment crippled that requires tons of accelerated pressing of the look buttons, the bounciness of A, B, X, and Y made the acquisition a spot much enjoyable and took immoderate unit disconnected my close thumb. Ninja Gaiden besides has a fewer fastener combos for peculiar attacks, truthful utilizing the backmost buttons to much easy property A + B oregon B + Y turned retired to beryllium a bully convenience.

Forza Motorsport proved the finesse of the triggers. The creaseless and accordant propulsion of RT and LT fto maine feather the state and brake with precision, much truthful than the banal Xbox controller. The triggers find a bully equilibrium betwixt being steadfast and light, and negociate to person nary friction, stickiness, oregon unwanted absorption on the question distance. So, portion the hairsbreadth triggers permission a batch to beryllium desired, its usually acceptable triggers person the borderline implicit immoderate of the champion controllers connected the market.